Course Two: Nature 59
Lesson 8: The Great Work
“To find the Absolute in the Infinite, in the
Indefinite, and in the Finite, this is the Mag-
num Opus, the Great Work of the Sages.”
—Albert Mackey, Morals and DogmaAnd so now we come in this course to The Great
Work. According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden
Dawn, the objective is “to obtain control of the na-
ture and power of one’s own being.” But this is only
the first step. Ultimately the Great Work is to aid, abet,
and foster the evolution of consciousness into the next
quantum leap. In Eastern traditions this is called En-
lightenment. It is a full awakening of the spirit, in
which one experiences with every fiber of one’s be-
ing the full connection with all other Beings, through-
out all of Time and Space. It is the integration of both
brain hemispheres into simultaneous consciousness,
rather than the normal alternation of one or the other.
In Wizardry, we call this Apotheosis—literally, deifi-
cation, or “becoming Divine.”The Awakening
Just as each of us awakened into consciousness
as an infant, so too is Gaea Herself poised on the
threshold of a planetary Awakening. This might come
about as a kind of universal telepathy. But I think the
emergence and rapid evolution of the Internet is al-
ready providing the seeds of a technological vehicle
of global consciousness through which this Awaken-
ing will inevitably manifest. I believe that the two-
handed coordination required for modern computerconsoles is stimulating not only a re-awakening of
the dormant right brain hemispheres of humanity, but
a full synchronization of both forms of mentality into
a new ambidextrous consciousness that will be able
to sustain the awakened mind of Gaea. And as with
the awakening of consciousness in our own minds, as
the billions of neurons in our brains linked up syner-
gistically, just so shall we all participate in the Awak-
ening of Gaea Herself—and our full Apotheosis.
Scientist/philosopher Teilhard de Chardin (1881–
1955) envisioned just such an awakening of univer-
sal consciousness as the “Omega Point”—the ultimate
fulfillment of the entire purpose of creation and evo-
lution. This would be the point in time when the indi-
vidual consciousnesses of all living beings on Earth
coalesce into a single collective consciousness. He
said: “We are faced with a harmonized collectivity of
consciousnesses to a sort of superconciousness. The
Earth not only becoming covered by myriads of grains
of thought, but becoming enclosed in a single think-
ing envelope, a single unanimous reflection” (The
Phenomenon of Man, 1955).The Diaspora
We stand at a great
crossroads in evolu-
tion; perhaps the most
critical in the entire
history of Life. The
very technology that
presently threatens all
life on this planet could alternately be used to build
starships to carry our children throughout the galaxy.
Perhaps humans are also intended to be the spores of
Gaea. Reproduction is an essential function of all liv-
ing systems, and this applies no less to a living planet.
I believe that before the end of this century, we
will see the beginnings of the great Diaspora of hu-
manity out into the stars. Diaspora means “scatter-
ing,” or “dispersion”—particularly of a people with a
common origin, such as the Jews after the Romans
destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE. But the root of the word,
speirein, means “to sow,” as in the planting of seeds.
Establishing space colonies, terraforming the barren
surfaces of the Moon, Mars, or Titan—“flying Mother
Nature’s silver seeds to a new home...” as Neil Young
sings—may be one of the most important purposes
for the evolution of a technological species.
And perhaps one day seedlings of Gaea will be
planting new roots in distant soil beyond the farthest
star....- Nature.p65 59 1/14/2004, 3:33 PM